Monthly Archives: February 2007

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Former Valencia High softball standout Ashley Herrera suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in UCLA’s season opening loss to Texas at a tournament in Arizona. According to spectators at the field, Herrera legged out an infield single, then collapsed to the ground in pain, clutching her left knee.

Herrera, a senior, is UCLA’s most versatile player. She opened the season as UCLA’s starting third baseman. During her career, she’s played first base, second base and outfield. She walked on at UCLA in 2003 but has developed into an everyday starter.

Considering Jimmy Clausen is already in South Bend preparing for spring practice, you have to give him the early lead on this one. But I’m curious who you all think will make the biggest impact as a freshman next year. Usually, quarterbacks and offensive lineman take a year or two to work their way into the lineup, while running backs and wide receivershave a better shot of playing right away, provided they can learn the playbook in time.

That said, let’s start the discussion with some of the top local players at those positions:

Running back:

Marc Tyler (USC)
Pros: Freshman always have a chance to play at USC and Tyler showed this year that he’s got the talent to be a star at the next level. His stock skyrocketed when he dropped 15 pounds in the offseason and improved his speed.
Cons: The Trojans already have a deep backfield and Tyler’s coming in with two other highly-touted RBs. Plus, he’s coming back from a serious leg injury.

Wide receivers:

Sean Wiser (Stanford)
Pros: If you can hang onto Jimmy Clausen’s passes, everyone else should be a piece of cake. Wiser is fast, strong and sure-handed. He received a ton of accolades in high school but ask anyone at Oaks Christian who the most underrated player among their 10 Division 1-bound players was and they’ll mention Wiser before you finish the question. Stanford averaged just 10.6 points a game and no receiver caught more than three touchdowns. So to say the Cardinal needs some help offensively is an understatement.

Cons: Stanford is expected to run a complicated pro-style offense that could take a while to learn.

Got an interesting e-mail in response to my column on the problems with the recruiting process that have come up in recent years.

“Came across your recent column on recruiting. As someone who follows
recruiting closely for a living, there’s nothing I’d love more than for an
overhaul of the recruiting process. Talk to countless kids, parents and HS
coaches who get worn down by the process. I imagine it’s only worse for
college coaches, especially those at schools outside the Top 25.

Also, for the rest of the story, when Samson Szakacsy decided to go to ASU,
it basically forced out a kid from Texas, Nick Foles, who had committed to
ASU last summer. Foles said he felt slighted by a staff that would openly
recruit another quarterback with him already on board. He’s now left without
a school and said he won’t sign today.

Exavier Johnson, one of the Southland’s most prolific high school quarterbacks, has sent shockwaves through the local football landscape by transferring Friday from Taft of Woodland Hills to archrival Birmingham of Lake Balboa.

The two schools get players from Portola Junior High, so players from each high school know each other well.

For Johnson, it’s a daring move to say the least, but he confirmed his family has gone so far as to switch residences so Johnson can be eligible instead of being forced to sit out his senior season because of transfer restrictions.

“Everyone is calling me a traitor. It’s awkward, but I’ll get used to it,” Johnson said.

Johnson has passed for nearly 4,800 yards and 54 touchdowns over the past two seasons. He completed 55 percent of his passes for 3,071 yards and 39 touchdowns during his sophomore season, followed by 51 percent for 1,709 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. In Johnson’s sophomore season, Taft advanced to the City Section final. Last year, Taft lost in the first round, as tension brewed between Johnson and Taft coach Troy Starr, according to Johnson.

“There’s been some miscommunication with the coaches,” Johnson said. “I want to go somewhere where they’re organized and they know what they’re doing.”

Starr said he planned to replace Johnson at quarterback and move Johnson to defense.

“This is Exavier’s decision but it’s not a negative thing because I like the kid,” Starr said. “He was moved to defense, and if he wanted to play quarterback he had to go to another school. All I can control is Taft. My history with quarterbacks speaks for itself.”

Malcolm Smith, Taft’s star senior running back/linebacker who’s scheduled to sign Wednesday with USC, said there shouldn’t be any animosity.

“I guess Exavier is doing what’s best for him,” Smith said. “We love Exavier, but you’ve got to do what’s best for yourself. He was my friend before he came to Taft, so I wish him the best.”

Birmingham is the defending City Section champion and returns 2,000-yard running back Milton Knox, one of California’s top juniors.

“We have to see how it all develops, but this is pretty big-time,” Carruth said. “We definitely need a quarterback, so I can’t knock it.”

— Speaking of high-profile football transfers, in the aftermath of Moorpark star running back Darrell Scott’s transfer to state power St. Bonaventure of Ventura, Hart coach Mike Herrington has taken a stand. The coach has canceled a contracted nonleague game at St. Bonaventure next season, partly because Scott’s mother had shopped her son to Hart – and Canyon – according to Herrington.

For Herrington, the whole thing just doesn’t sit right. He already had wanted to play an opponent other than St. Bonaventure next season because they’re now in the same Northern Division playoff grouping, and the Scott situation was the last straw.

“Actually, I knew about Canyon, too, but didn’t bring that into the conversation (with St. Bonaventure coach Jon Mack),” Herrington said. “I can understand when a family moves and there’s a legitimate transfer. Yes, they’re moving, but parents shop around, that’s just not correct. If you move into a new neighborhood, fine. But don’t call coaches and shop kids around.

“Some will argue with me that parents have a right to do what’s best for their child, and to an extent that’s true. We just don’t want to see a program torn down because a guy is transferring.”

Herrington has been on the other side, too. Three years ago, his best returning player, offensive lineman Joe Bernardi, transferred out of state for family reasons. The coach had no choice but to wish Bernardi good luck, but Hart wasn’t the same without him.

“We didn’t just lose our center, we lost his leadership, too, and that was a big factor,” Herrington said. “But the transfer itself was fine because it wasn’t like Joe was going out and looking for the best place to play.”

Herrington has taken a tough stance, but at this point he’s still flexible if neither Hart nor St. Bonaventure can find a new opponent. If that happens, they might stick to the original plan and play each other – an exciting matchup considering Hart eliminated St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals last season.

“Right now, we’re both looking for games. I hope St. Bonnie makes as strong an effort as we have,” Herrington said.

— Valencia might have the strongest softball team in area history this season, based on the return of strikeout queen Jordan Taylor and a large group of returning Division I-bound sluggers, including infielders Jessica Spigner (Tennessee), Nicole Matson (Pacific) and Alyssa Ishibashi (North Carolina State) and outfielder Kristen Aidem (Michigan State) and Torrie Anderson (Cal State Fullerton).

The only thing left to do for Valencia is to win a Southern Section title – the Vikings came closest two seasons ago in a 2-0 championship-game loss to Royal of Simi Valley – and the team’s place in history should be secured.

So loaded is Valencia this season that coach Donna Lee sees no reason for guarded optimism.

“I’m very pumped up,” Lee said. “Our goal isn’t just to get to the championship but to win it. I told the girls they’re the best team in the CIF, and if their goal isn’t to win a CIF title, then they should just hand in their uniform right now.”
Gerry Gittelson’s column appears Sundays in the Daily News. gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com

Dallas Rutherford isn’t shy about explaining why he transferred from tiny Hillcrest Christian High of Granada Hills to play basketball at high-powered Campbell Hall of North Hollywood this season.

“I wanted to play against the best competition, day in and day out,” he said. “That’s why I came here – to play against the best teams in the San Fernando Valley and the best in California. I’m comfortable here.”

No complaints from Campbell Hall. The defending Southern Section Div. IV-AA finalist Vikings were good before, but they’re better with Rutherford, a 6-foot-3 junior who averaged 22.2 points at Hillcrest Christian last season.

But the transition hasn’t been perfectly smooth because of a recurring injury that kept Rutherford sidelined for seven weeks. At first, the knee injury was misdiagnosed and it took three doctors to figure out it was a broken knee cap. There was no choice but to rest it for nearly two months.

“It was the longest seven weeks of my life,” said Rutherford, who has returned after averaging 16.5 points in two opening games before taking the rest.

“Now that I’m back, it feels good to have everything back to normal. Sitting on the bench kind of gave me a different perspective, and in some ways I think that was good for me.”
It’s been a week since his return, and Rutherford is finding his groove. He scored seven points in 14 minutes Tuesday against Calvary Chapel, and with four games remaining he should be at full strength for the Vikings (20-1) once the playoffs begin.

“He’s a good player, a good shooter who’s also good on defense,” teammate Justin Holiday said. “He gets a lot of steals on defense, and that helps a lot because we’re a fast-break team, and we like to run.”

It’s helped that Rutherford played summer ball with Justin and his brother Jrue, two of Campbell Hall’s top players. Rutherford was so eager to join Campbell Hall’s team that his family changed residences so he would be eligible immediately instead of having to sit out a year because of transfer restrictions.

Campbell Hall coach Terry Kelly said he loves having another scoring threat who also has a firm grasp of team concepts. The coach is even more pleased about Rutherford’s natural court sense – instincts that go beyond scoring, rebounding and passing.

“Dallas is definitely another offensive threat for us but what I really like is he’s a very heady player,” Kelly said. “He’s got a good working knowledge of the game, and that’s what impresses me the most about him. He’s crafty and sly and just has a knack for basketball.”

Rutherford has also blended in academically and socially, and that’s important.

“The only thing left is to figure out exactly how Dallas fits into our rotation,” Kelly said. “But I’ve already seen enough to know he’s a Division I prospect without doubt. Some Pac-10 schools are already looking at him.

“When he was hurt, you could tell he just wasn’t the same guy, so we’re really excited to have him back.”

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